Combined tongs and shovel



(NoModel.)

-J.AN.-GR0UCH. COMBINED TONGS AND SHOVEL.

No. 513,891. Patented Jan. 30, 1894.

. NITED STATES-` PATENT OFFICE.

COMBINED TONGS AND SHOVEL.

SPEGIFIC'LTION forming part of Letters Patent No. 513,891, dated January 30, 1894.

Application filed April 17, 1893. Serial No. 470,689. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern,.-

'le it known that I, JEHEW N. CROUOH, a c1t1 zen of the United States, residing at High Point, 1n the county of Guilford and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and useL ful Combined Tongs and Shovel, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a combined tongs and'shovel and has for its object to improve devices of this class in such manner as to simpllfy the construction and operation of the same and to materially cheapen the manufacture thereof.

With this and other objects in View, the invention consists of the construction and arrangement of the parts thereof as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the drawings: Figure l is aperspective vlew of the improved combined shovel and tongs, showing the same opened partially in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal vertical section of the device.-

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a shovel of any preferred form of construction, but preferably of that shown, havmg a plain dat surface 2 at the head thereof, from which extends a handle 3, whose upp er surface is also flattened, as at 4, and continuous in the same plane with the surface 2. Nearer the upper end of the said handle 3 a downward loop 5 is formed, and above the said loop is aslot 6, that extends through the said handle.

The numeral 7 designates the leg of the tongs, having an under flattened surface S, that bears upon the surfaces 2 and 4 to provide a close-fitting joint when the two parts are closed, and nearer the lower end thereof is formed a shoulder 9, that extends over and closely bears against the edge 10 between the upper termination of the shovel and the beginning of the surface 2. From this shoulder 9, downwardly, the said leg is reduced, as at 11, and its free endl is curved downward to form an engaging tip l2. By this means the reduced part of the said leg, in view of the curvature of the shovel l, stands away from the latter and the tip l2 bears against the said shovel near the lower terminating edge of the same. The upper part of the leg 7 is constructed with a loop 13, that is reversely arranged to the loop 5 and forms with the latter convenient means for inserting the finger or 'fingers of the hand into the opening thus formed to separate the leg of the tongs from the shovel, or cause the same to be pressed thereagainst. The extreme upper end of the leg 7 is reduced, as at 14C, and passes through the slot 6 lof the shovel handle, and a pivotal connection is thus made, shoulders being formed, as at l5, on opposite sides of the leg 7, adjacent to the reduced portion 14, for evident and well-known purposes. The tongs and shovel may be suitably ornamented and embellished with designs, and it will be seen that the construction of the iattened surfaces, together with the shoulder 9, provides for a close fitting of the parts of the device to render the same in compact form and thereby take only a small amount of room.

Changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new isl. In acombined shovel and tongs, the combination of the shovel having a handle with an upper flat surface in alignment and continuous of a similar surface at the head of the said shovel, said handle being also provided with a loop and a slot at the upper part thereof, and a tongs leg having its upper end reduced and pivotally connected in the said slot and also provided with a loop reversely arranged to the aforesaid loop, and an under attened surface fitting flat upon and along the shovel handle between the loop and the blade and having a lower terminating shoulder to bear upon the aforesaid flattened surfaces of the shovel handle to form a close {itting of the parts, the lower end of the said leg of the tongs being reduced and bearing upon the shovel, substantially as described.

2. In'a combined shovel and tongs, the

IOC1

and a tongs-leg pivoted to the handle of the In testimony that I claim the foregoing as shovel above the ioop and also having a eormy own I have hereto affixed my signature in 1o responding loop 3, the remaining portion of the'presenee of two Witnesses.

the tongs-1eg fitting Hat upon and along the 5 body of the shovel-handle between the blade JEHEW N CROUCH' and the loop and (3o-operating with the shovel- XVitnesSoS: blade to form a pair of tongs, substantially J. ROBT. PARKER,

as described. WALTER B. STULE. 

